Movies: Jay R. Smith

It's the Fourth of July and the mother of Our Gang member Joe Cobb is doing a brisk business at her fireworks stand. Briefly left in charge of the stand, Joe does his best not to blow up himself or his friends, but a poorly-aimed skyrocket owned by A...

An abused chimpanzee escapes from a zoo. On the run, he meets Farina, running away from home and his battling parents. The two become friends and inspire the rest of the gang to put on a show to make money from neighborhood kids. But the chimp has hi...

Farina Hoskins discovers a stray dog. Joe Cobb suggests that he and Farina take the dog to the gang's dog show. In the middle of the show, the dogcatchers crack down on picking up all unlicensed strays to control a hydrophobia epidemic; the injection...

Joe Cobb is a wealthy child who longs for a baby brother. His nursemaid takes him to the other side where he meets some kids his age (the rest of Our Gang) where Joe offers three dollars for a baby. Farina finds a fellow African-American neighbor wom...

Farina's mother is very ill and the mortgage is due. He tries to take over her laundry business, but the kids just wreck the clothes. Joe takes pity and devises a scheme to make money: the gang builds their own oil well....

On Christmas Eve, the Gang copes with hardships, helps capture a gang of thieves, and learns that Santa Claus really exists for those who wish fervently enough....

Wheezer likes to hit people on the nose, and his folks encourage him to do so. Then the Gang wandering off climbing atop a construction site while the builders have gone to lunch....

The kids decide to put on a circus at the local hotel. Seeing various pets and other domestic animals dressed up like circus animals was very cute--particularly the dachshund dressed as a seal! However, the animals all get loose and terrorize the hot...

The gang goes digging for treasure in an old abandoned house against Kennedy the Cop's wishes....

While on a cross-country train trip, the Our Gang kids drive the rest of the passengers crazy with a never-ending game of cowboys and Indians. During a stopover in the sleepy town of Red Dog, the kids disembark in hopes of savoring a taste of genuine...

Chicken Feed is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 66th Our Gang short subject released. The kids go to a magic show and decides to try a little magic of their own....

While the world watches the Olympic Games in Stockholm, the Rascals gather at the flats for their own games. Whether it's the shot put, the hurdles, the pole vault, or the high jump, not much goes right. There's a deep mud hole that catches several o...

Ten Years Old is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 58th Our Gang short subject released. It was remade as Birthday Blues in 1932. Nobody comes to Joe's birthday party so he goes to the rich kid's party...

Wheezer gets excited watching his dog Pansy attack and rip apart the chickens and furniture in the back yard. His mother is upset, and his father takes his rifle to shoot the dog. Meanwhile, Joe Cobb has taught Pansy to play dead, and after the deed ...

Habitually mistreated at the deceptively named Happyland Home Orphanage, the Our Gang kids find a loyal and kindhearted friend in the form of a black grownup named Uncle Tom. Alas, Tom's own children -- including real-life siblings Allen "Farina" Hos...

Mickey overhears the gang rehearsing a play and thinks it's real....

The story of the short film from the beginning of the movies in the 1890s, when all movies were shorts, through the 1950s when short subjects virtually disappeared from theaters....

Living in an orphanage, the gang has to deal with Amanda, a child-hating spinster. To receive a bequest from a rich uncle, she must acquire a child. Thinking suspicion, the gang causes all kinds of havoc toward her including a mud battle....

The kids are playing baseball when a man dressed in Middle-Eastern clothing comes out and tells them to be quiet. They join Mary, Farina, and Scooter in the gang's hide-out while Mary is reading ghost stories. While on the other side of the wall, the...

The gang decided to go into the movie-making business, using all kinds of sets and props. There were problems as those not involved are trying to ruin their business by playing pranks and even insisting the police to close them down....